HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3352        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3525

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

James Arciero

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to municipal electric supplier aggregation.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3352        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3525

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to municipal electric supplier aggregation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Subsection (a) of section 134 of chapter 164 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the fifth and sixth paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following 2 paragraphs:-

Participation by any retail customer in a municipal or group aggregation program shall be voluntary. No ratepayer shall be automatically enrolled and shall continue to receive basic service unless affirmatively electing to opt into the aggregated program. Within 30 days of the date the aggregated entity is fully operational, ratepayers who opt-in shall be transferred to the aggregated entity. Following adoption of aggregation through the votes specified above, such program shall allow any retail customer to opt-in. Once opting in to the aggregated entity, any ratepayer may choose to opt-out within 180 days and shall do so without penalty and shall be entitled to receive basic service as if he was originally enrolled therein. Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing any city or town or any municipal retail load aggregator to restrict the ability of retail electric customers to obtain or receive service from any authorized provider thereof.

It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully inform participating ratepayers in advance of the required enrollment date that they may opt-in and be automatically enrolled and that if they choose not to opt-in to the aggregated entity there shall be no penalty and they shall continue to receive basic service as previously provided. In addition, such disclosure shall prominently state all charges associated with opting into the aggregated entity.  The department of energy resources shall furnish, without charge, to any citizen a list of all other supply options available to them in a meaningful format that shall enable comparison of price and product.